


Under Wraps

by MegaWallflower



Category: Naruto
Genre: Babysitting, Cute Kids, Hide and Seek, Hokage Hatake Kakashi, M/M, Silly, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-01 21:03:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20264485
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MegaWallflower/pseuds/MegaWallflower
Summary: The sixth hokage runs into a familiar face.





	Under Wraps

Kakashi’s steps slowed to a halt. He tensed slightly at the sound of rustling bushes. He held up his hand slightly to signal to the ANBU guards tailing him as a silent order to stand down.

The ANBU guards’ obedience kept them in the shadows, and Kakashi’s quick reflex denied his trained instinct to defend himself when a figure suddenly leapt out at him from the bushes.

“Boo!”

Kakashi caught the small assailant in his arms, and he burst into a fit of giggles. “Hee-hee, did I scare you?”

It was only a kid –a little boy. Metal Lee, to be exact. And if Kakashi or any of the ANBU guards had hurt him, they would have an _actual_ threat on their hands. Guy would kill Kakashi if he let anyone harm one hair on this kid’s head.

“You got me,” Kakashi answered with a chuckle. He waited until he sensed the ANBU guards ease up before he knelt down onto one knee, setting Metal back on the ground.

Metal just grinned, the picture of innocence and youth.

He was admittedly pretty cute, giggling and rocking on his feet with a giddy energy that he’d inherited from his dad. Which was even more reason to be concerned, if it meant he was going to be running off on his own and jumping out at public figures. _Kakashi_ was one thing, he was laid-back already, but if he jumped out at _Killer B_ or _Gaara_…

These kids were going to start an international incident. And Kakashi was going to have to fill out all the paperwork for it.

“Here!”

Kakashi’s thoughts of imminent war and crumbling world peace were interrupted by the offer of a bright yellow flower. Metal presented the gift to his hokage, smiling brightly. “I found this! You can have it, hokage-sama!”

A peace offering. Maybe this kid did have some sense of diplomacy.

Kakashi accepted, sliding the flower behind his ear. “Just call me Kakashi-sensei.” Flowers weren’t his usual style, and the bright color probably clashed with his silver hair or his plain white robes, but he was more than happy to humor him.

“You look so pretty, Kakashi-sensei!” The inflection on his name sounded off, but Kakashi had known Guy for years. Metal had probably picked it up from him. Speaking of Guy…

“So, who’d you escape from?” Kakashi finally asked. “Guy or Lee?”

“Oh! Um! Actually…” Metal fidgeted shyly, hiding his arms behind his back. “I’m playing hide-and-seek… But Guy-papa always finds me…”

Guy didn’t go easy, even on Metal, huh? A brilliant idea struck Kakashi. “I’ll help you out, if you promise not to jump out at any kage from the bushes anymore.”

Metal perked back up. “I promise! I _super_ promise!”

“Well, if you _super_ promise, I guess I have no choice but to help you out…” Kakashi drawled. He stood up and lifted up the bottom of his cloak. This was one of the few perks of being the hokage. “Get in.”

Metal tried not to giggle as he hid in Kakashi’s oversized cloak, shifting back and forth on his feet as the sound of wheels came closer and closer. Metal crouched down, covering his mouth with his hands so he didn’t give himself away. Kakashi took off his hat and held it in front of him so the trailing veil hid any part of Metal that the robe wouldn’t.

They didn’t have to wait long. Like clockwork, a force of nature in green and red and orange blew by, stopping just short of barreling into Kakashi.

“—Kakashi! No time to talk! Have you seen Metal? This tall, cute as a button, bowl cut hair, devilishly handsome…!”

With a perfect, poker-faced monotone, “You’re playing hide-and-seek, so I won’t answer that.”

“I see! I’ll see you later, then, Kaka—” Guy was already halfway out of the park by the time his wheels stopped and he spun around, stirring up more wind as he turned to face Kakashi. “Wait! You!” Guy whipped out his challenging finger and pointed it at Kakashi’s nose. “You have seen him! Otherwise you wouldn’t know we’re playing!”

Kakashi stared him down, trying to ignore the fidgeting under his cloak from Metal’s attempts to hold in laughter. He could feel a tiny hand tugging on his pants leg. “You can’t expect me to answer that and sell out my comrade. You know what I think about people who abandon their friends like that.”

Never one to be easily intimidated, Guy kept pointing. “Oh, is that so? You’re on young Metal’s side, then?”

“Not necessarily.” Kakashi shrugged, a teasing smile on his face. “It’s just my job as your rival to be on the opposite side as you, right?”

Guy grimaced. It was a silly explanation, but it was one Guy usually used on Kakashi, so he couldn’t argue against it. “—Fine! Well, then, _Lord Hokage_,” Kakashi's lips twitched in what was almost a smile. Guy was trying to annoy him by calling him that stuffy title, but it was cuter than it was irritating when Guy was the one saying it. Guy was one of the few people Kakashi would actually pull rank on, anyway. “Kakashi-_sama_. Now this is more than a game with my beloved student! It’s also a chance to prove myself to you yet again!”

“Are you turning this into a challenge between you and me now? And are you mouthing off to your _lord hokage_?”

Guy clicked his tongue, easily brushing off the taunt. “I’m mouthing off to my _rival_!”

Kakashi caught him by the shoulder and steered him gently — but firmly — back the way he came. “Well, you better put your money where your mouth is and find your little brat then, Rival!”

Guy rolled out of Kakashi’s reach so he could properly turn around. “As if I would go in whatever direction you steer me in! He must be the other way!” Guy searched Kakashi’s face for anything to give away the truth in that accusation, but Kakashi’s poker face didn’t crack.

“You were always good at hiding and sneaking around, despite appearances. Hide-and-seek is one of your strong points,” was all Kakashi had to offer, airy words and an easy shrug. “So, if that’s what you think, maybe it’s true.”

Guy’s grin widened. If this was the game they were playing, he was more than adept at it. “One of my many, many strong points! I caught you by surprise so many times! There was nowhere you could ever hide from me, Rival! You could never hide anything from me! Not for long!”

Guy was technically right, and it was a sentiment Kakashi found sweet and endlessly endearing, but it wasn’t nearly enough to break Kakashi’s poker face. “Hm? Really?”

“If _you_ were the one hiding,” Guy tried instead. “I would have already found you! Metal’s surpassed the hokage already! How embarrassing for you!”

Kakashi raised his palms to the sky in a shrug, trying to draw attention to the upper half of his body, since Metal had started wiggling around. “The new generation always surpasses the old.”

“It’s more than that! I was able to get a shocked reaction out of our famous hokage so often in our youth! The element of surprise was always on my side!”

“Is that how you remember it? I only remember being shocked by your acorn…”

Guy blushed bright red, stunned speechless. “That’s—You—Why are you even—If you’re going to forget anything, forget _that_, please!” he stuttered out a plea.

Laughter bubbled out, both from Kakashi himself and from under Kakashi’s robes.

Metal poked out from between legs and grinned up at them. “You guys are so silly!”

All that hard work, wasted.

Guy laughed awkwardly, trying to draw attention away from how red his face was. “You were hiding him right under my nose?! Clever! I’m impressed, Rival!”

Kakashi shrugged. “I don’t know how that got there.”

With a giggle, Metal easily climbed up Guy’s leg and onto his lap. “Guy-papa, you’re an acorn? I’m an acorn, too!”

Guy shot Kakashi a glare. “No! We are no—”

“See? Our hair!” Metal interrupted him to point one hand at Guy’s head and the other at his own head. “It’s just like the little hats on top of acorns! Our heads are acorns,” Metal pointed both hands up at Kakashi’s hair. “And Kakashi-sensei’s… a dandelion!”

“Yes! Yes, that’s what an acorn is!” Guy loudly insisted. “Right, Lord Sixth?”

“Of course. I don’t know what else it could mean,” Kakashi answered innocently.

“But just for the record, I outgrew being an acorn years ago. Acorns grow into mighty oak trees, Metal! Remember that!”

Kakashi’s only answer to that was a snort and an eye roll.


End file.
